[Bf-compositor] [enh] How to deal with thumbnail previews

Jeroen Bakker j.bakker at atmind.nl
Mon Dec 2 21:33:39 CET 2013


Hi all,

first patch is being reviewed for the thumbnail previews.

http://developer.blender.org/D69

Would be great to get some user feedback!

Jeroen & Monique

On 11/19/2013 07:43 PM, Sean Kennedy wrote:
> I LOVE these ideas!
>
> Default colors for nodes is great. It would be most useful to color 
> code them by the categories listed in the add menu (Input, Output, 
> Color, etc...). For example, all Input node types would be green, 
> outputs could be red, color nodes could be blue, etc.
>
> birds eye view is useful, but it would also be handy to be able to 
> turn it off. Personally, I would only find it useful for very large 
> complex node trees. Otherwise I'd want it off. Also, if performance 
> and speed takes a hit while it updates, it's not worth having, in my 
> opinion.
>
> Comment node! Yes please! :) Something collapsable, so it can be small 
> and only opened and read when the user requests. But the collapsed 
> version should still show the name of the node, or the first word or 
> two of the comment.
>
> Great list of minor upgrades!
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 19:29:02 +0100
> From: j.bakker at atmind.nl
> To: bf-compositor at blender.org
> Subject: Re: [Bf-compositor] [enh] How to deal with thumbnail previews
>
> Hi All,
>
> Showing thumbnails for input nodes (image, texture, movie renderlayer) 
> is ok, they are almost free of cost.
>
> As one usage of thumbnails is for navigation support, we should also 
> take other options into account like:
>  - default colors for nodes. (a cheaper way for visual clues). The 
> framenode and node colors are already possible, but take time to 
> setup. So why not add some default color templates.
>  - add a bird eye view
>  - adding possibilities to write a note/comment (comment node, or 
> directly on the grid)
>
> There are some special cases like:
>  - Levels node does not output a preview, in the old compositor it 
> showed a histogram, but currently it ain't displaying anything.
>  - Compositor output preview is quite a heavy preview. During mango it 
> was disconnected when working, and sometimes forgot to connect back 
> when sending to the render farm.
>
> @Lukas: We will pick this up!
>
> Cheers,
> Jeroen & Monique
>
>
>
>
> On 11/19/2013 10:01 AM, Bartek Skorupa (priv) wrote:
>
>     In case of thumbnails I'd suggest a bit different approach:
>     Let's maybe treat possibility of having thumbnails as an
>     additional feature.
>     Instead of saying "Hide Previews", let's say "Show Previews" and
>     have it off by default.
>
>     I wouldn't go for having different behaviors depending on node
>     type. It's not that difficult to hit H when you really want the
>     thumbnail on.
>
>     Bartek Skorupa
>
>     www.bartekskorupa.com <http://www.bartekskorupa.com>
>
>     On 19 lis 2013, at 08:42, Lukas Tönne <lukas.toenne at gmail.com
>     <mailto:lukas.toenne at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         I promised to look into this, but i don't mind if somebody
>         else will pick it up :)
>
>         Currently there is the "Hide Previews" button in compositor
>         nodes, but this is not working atm due to the new node
>         categories system and it's also not really solid enough (it
>         switches off previews in the node_add_node function, but this
>         is only called for a handful of C operators now). I think this
>         should be removed.
>
>         Then there is the question at which point the preview flag
>         should be un-set. It could be done as part of the node
>         categories system, which supports initialization of nodes with
>         a settings dictionary (in python). But there are a number of
>         nodes that can be added with non-python operators which would
>         lack this behavior then (viewers, file output, default nodes
>         in new trees). Also since the feature is common to all the
>         compo nodes i would suggest deeper integration.
>
>         It can be done as a common init function for compo nodes
>         (initfunc in bNodeType). It's a bit of monkey work to add
>         superclass calls, but not too difficult:
>
>         static void node_composit_init_common(bNodeTree
>         *UNUSED(ntree), bNode *node)
>         {
>         /* disable all compositor node previews by default */
>         node->flag &= ~NODE_PREVIEW;
>         }
>
>
>         Subclasses with init() should call the superclass method (a
>         bit awkward in C, will become nicer if we move nodes to python):
>
>         static void node_composit_init_boxmask(bNodeTree *ntree, bNode
>         *node)
>         {
>         NodeBoxMask *data = MEM_callocN(sizeof(NodeBoxMask),
>         "NodeBoxMask");
>
>         node_composit_init_common(ntree, node);
>
>         data->x = 0.5;
>         data->y = 0.5;
>         data->width = 0.2;
>         data->height = 0.1;
>         data->rotation = 0.0;
>         node->storage = data;
>         }
>
>
>         Input nodes can then set the flag explicitly:
>
>         static void node_composit_init_image(bNodeTree *ntree, bNode
>         *node)
>         {
>         ImageUser *iuser = MEM_callocN(sizeof(ImageUser), "node image
>         user");
>
>         node_composit_init_common(ntree, node);
>         /* enable previews for input nodes */
>         node->flag |= NODE_PREVIEW;
>
>         node->storage = iuser;
>         iuser->frames = 1;
>         iuser->sfra = 1;
>         iuser->fie_ima = 2;
>         iuser->ok = 1;
>         /* setup initial outputs */
>         cmp_node_image_verify_outputs(ntree, node);
>         }
>
>
>
>         On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 8:16 AM, Sebastian König
>         <sebastiankoenig at posteo.de <mailto:sebastiankoenig at posteo.de>>
>         wrote:
>
>             Hey!
>
>             Yes, I think it would be fine to make thumbnails just be
>             hidden by default.
>             However, it's also true they do provide some very helpful
>             feedback when it comes to input nodes.
>
>             Even though it would make the default "hidden preview" a
>             bit inconsistent, i do believe this would be the most
>             desirable behavior:
>             - Input nodes are always created with their previews enabled.
>             - Every other node has the preview disabled, except for
>             the viewer node.
>             - Since the composite output makes the whole node-tree
>             calculate all the time when it has thumbnail expanded I
>             think it should also be collapsed by default. (also in
>             startup.blend)
>
>
>             So, speaking as a non developer I think you only
>             would have to exclude the input nodes from the button that
>             controls the default behavior for new nodes, though in
>             reality I suppose there'd have to be some if/else stuff. :)
>
>
>             Sebastian
>
>
>             -- 
>             Sebastian König
>             Schenkendorfstrasse 45
>             04275 Leipzig
>             Germany
>             sebastiankoenig at posteo.de <mailto:sebastiankoenig at posteo.de>
>             www.3dzentrale.com <http://www.3dzentrale.com/>
>
>             On 19. November 2013 at 05:46:31, LswaN
>             (subscription57 at live.com
>             <mailto://subscription57@live.com>) wrote:
>
>                 I'd like to add my 2 cents here. Regarding the
>                 thumbnails, I think hidden by default is a bit better
>                 than removing them altogether. I agree with David that
>                 thumbs can be helpful when you just need a quick
>                 at-a-glance view of what is going on in a set of nodes.
>
>                 Also, Blender did auto-link new nodes to your selected
>                 node at one time, but iirc the feature was removed
>                 because people often found its choices for linking
>                 confusing/unpredictable. For example, if you added a
>                 mix node, you might end up with the auto-link
>                 connected to the wrong input of the mix node.
>                 Personally, I liked the feature (even though it wasn't
>                 perfect), so I wouldn't mind seeing it make a comeback.
>
>                 On 11/18/2013 8:57 PM, Aditia A. Pratama wrote:
>
>                     I agree with sean. Thumbs take to much space for
>                     me...but yeah for only for non-footage nodes. I
>                     also propose to hide node by default option in
>                     user pref, so when calling node it will in hidden
>                     mode which is very easy to navigate and attach.
>                     There's also one usability request by me, but need
>                     your opinion guys. How about auto link nodes. Let
>                     say I've selected image node and then I called
>                     blur node, it will auto linked by last selected
>                     node, so instead drag your node around it will be
>                     more faster that way IMO.
>                     For viewer node, i think it's better to have
>                     canvas like vse.
>                     On Nov 19, 2013 5:37 AM, "David McSween"
>                     <3pointedit at gmail.com
>                     <mailto:3pointedit at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>                         Yes I agree that thumbs can become clutter and
>                         are often inaccurate but they provide handy
>                         visual ques or sign posts for your process.
>                         Perhaps default to closed/hidden would be
>                         better. They can be replaced with viewer nodes
>                         but you can't send multiple viewer nodes to
>                         the uv image window. It would be really
>                         helpful to allocate unique names to viewer
>                         nodes, so that you can call them independently
>                         on their own uv image windows. This would
>                         allow the user to compare details of node outputs.
>
>                         On 19 Nov 2013 07:30, "Sean Kennedy"
>                         <mack_dadd2 at hotmail.com
>                         <mailto:mack_dadd2 at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
>                             I'm all for removing thumbnails, at least
>                             on non-footage nodes. It could be useful
>                             on image nodes, movie clips, etc, because
>                             if you have a lot of footage being used,
>                             it could help keep it visually organized.
>                             But even on those, making it default to
>                             not show the thumbnail is ideal.
>
>                             sean
>
>                             ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                             Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 22:20:08 +0100
>                             From: m.dewanchand at atmind.nl
>                             <mailto:m.dewanchand at atmind.nl>
>                             To: bf-compositor at blender.org
>                             <mailto:bf-compositor at blender.org>
>                             Subject: Re: [Bf-compositor] Wiki Page
>
>                             Hi Sebastian,
>
>                             Nice! Just missing some priorities....
>                             Regarding status updates; when starting a
>                             project the developer can create a page
>                             for it, containing details about the
>                             project / solution / progress, and link it
>                             to the main page.
>
>                             So should we start removing thumbnail
>                             previews? If yes, do you also want to
>                             remove the preview from the input- and
>                             output nodes?
>
>                             Rgds,
>                             J & M
>
>                             Sebastian König schreef op 11/8/13 1:25 PM:
>
>                                 Hey all!
>
>                                 I have started to fill in the wiki page.
>                                 http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Dev:Ref/Proposals/Compositor
>                                 I'm not super experienced with Wiki
>                                 editing, so feel free to edit and
>                                 elaborate.
>                                 I am also open to suggestions how to
>                                 improve the order/appearance/structure.
>
>                                 Probably there should also be some
>                                 kind of indication what's being worked
>                                 on, what's the status etc.
>
>                                 More to come.
>
>                                 Cheers!
>
>                                 Sebastian
>
>
>
>
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